Sons
by Scullspeare
Summary: Missing scene from 12.02 Mamma Mia. One-shot: the brothers talk, and there may just be a bro hug.


**AUTHOR** : Scullspeare

 **RATING** : PG

 **SUMMARY** : Missing scene from 12.02 _Mamma Mia_. The brothers talk ... about Dean - and their mom - being back from the dead. And yeah, there just might be a bro hug.

 **SPOILERS** : Refers to events in 12.01 _Keep Calm and Carry On_ and 12.02 _Mamma Mia_

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE** : If you look at the first two episodes of Season 12 as one story, we were a tad short-changed in emotional payoffs, most notably the brothers' reunion. Sigh. This is my humble attempt to fill in that blank. If you felt the same way, I hope this helps.

 **SONS**

Sam watched Mick follow Toni up the cellar stairs.

" _No argument, Lady Bevell went too far. I deeply apologize."_

 _Too far_.

Images spun through Sam's head, each one raw and visceral - the bullet ripping through his leg … the water torture that stole his body heat faster than he'd ever thought possible … the emotionless face of that other woman as she'd taken a blowtorch to his foot...

Sam shifted his weight subconsciously and his breathing hitched as pain flared through burned skin and torn muscle.

"Sammy?" Dean's hand was on his arm, concern clear in his voice.

Sam's vision blurred, the two Brits becoming four as they disappeared through the doorway at the top of the stairs. As the door closed behind them, his legs gave out.

"Sam!"

Multiple voices called out his name, each echoing around him as he went down. Somehow his brother caught him, breaking his fall and landing on the floor beside him. Sam ended up on his ass, legs splayed out in front of him and slumped against Dean.

"Hey..." Dean, his arm locked around Sam's back, fingers wrapped in his blood-stained shirt, was staring worriedly down at him.

Sam closed his eyes, inhaling deeply to chase away the dizziness, to shut out the pain. His head pressed against Dean's chest, he focused on the rapid beating of his brother's heart; he'd been so sure Dean was dead, he needed every beat to convince himself this wasn't just another cruel hallucination.

He jumped when fingers were pressed against his neck in search of a pulse. "M'okay." Sam opened his eyes and gently pushed away Dean's hand. "I'm … good."

Dean raised an eyebrow at that. "Oh yeah, you're ready for the freaking Boston Marathon."

Aided by his brother, Sam slowly sat up. His mom - his mom! - knelt at his right, her face mirroring Dean's concern. Cas, moving in quickly from the far side of the room, stood in front of them.

Sam stared at Mary. "You're … real?" He reached out, inhaling sharply when his shaking hand touched her face. "How-"

"Amara wanted to say thanks for getting her and Chuck back on speaking terms. The next thing I know, I'm not a bomb anymore and Mom shows up." Dean shook his head. "The _how_ part is a little beyond my pay grade."

The worry lines on Mary's face deepened as she studied Sam's battered body and bloody clothes. "Look at you... You've been shot, you've... We need to get you to a hospital."

"no." Sam shook his head. "I- "

"We don't need a hospital." Dean offered Mary a reassuring smile. "We have something better. Cas?"

Cas nodded. Crouching beside the brothers, he reached out and touched Sam's forehead.

Sam felt the now familiar warmth spread through him, quelling burn-fuelled nausea, dulling pain, clearing drug-induced fog and chasing away the chill of fever. Cuts, burns and bruises healed and as the warmth faded, Sam again slumped against his brother.

"Sammy?"

"M'fine." Sam again pushed himself up. "Really. I'm just … beat."

"Yeah, torture will do that to you." Dean glanced again at Cas. "You sure he's good?"

Cas nodded. "Physically, he's healed but he will need rest before his batteries are at full charge."

Mary reached for Sam's face, for the healthy skin that just moments before had been bloody and flayed open, but pulled back her hand as unfamiliarity overrode instinct. "How-"

"One of the benefits of having an angel on the team." Dean turned again to Cas and gestured to Mary's split lip and bruised forehead. "You got enough juice left to fix Mom too?"

Cas frowned. "I don't have juice but I can heal her." He pressed his fingers to Mary's forehead, the battle scars from her fight with Toni fading quickly beneath his touch.

"You … I..." It all seemed too much for Mary who just stared at Cas."Thanks doesn't seem to cut it."

"We're hunters, we don't get thanked." Cas was as deadpan as always. He leaned toward Mary conspiratorially. "But I believe that if that woman had not used spellwork, you would have won that fight. You clearly had the top hand."

"Upper hand, Cas. Upper hand." Dean smiled at Mary. "But he's right about the fight, Mom. There's not much rust on you."

"It's just ... instinct. When someone threatens your family..." Mary's expression was haunted as her gaze travelled from Dean to Sam.

"Mom..." The word sounded so foreign coming out of Sam's mouth.

Mary turned to him.

Sam just stared at her. "I..." All his life he'd dreamed of having his mom back. Now here she was and he had no clue what to say.

"You're exhausted." Mary smiled softly, giving his arm a gentle squeeze. "We have a lot to talk about but there's nothing that can't wait until after we get you home and you get some rest." She turned to Dean. "Stay with your brother while he gets his bearings. I'll get the car."

Dean's eyebrow quirked. "My car?"

"Dean, I drove it all the time before you..." Mary's gaze travelled from one son to the other, the haunted expression back. "Before you both were born." She held out her hand. "Please."

When Dean still hesitated, Cas leaned in towards Mary. "Dean has control issues. He won't let me drive either."

Dean glared at Cas, while Sam bit back a smile. "Dean, come on."

Dean fished the keys from this pocket and dropped them in Mary's palm, still glaring at Cas.

Mary nodded. "I'll be right back."

Cas pushed himself up as he watched Mary leave. "Your mother is a strong woman. It's good that you have her back."

"Damn straight it is – but it doesn't mean I like her driving my car." Dean frowned as, like Mary, the angel headed for the stairs. "Now where the hell are you going?"

"I will follow the Man and Woman of Letters, make sure they leave the country as promised." Cas glanced back at the brothers. "I believe that man's olive branch is broken."

Dean snorted. "Bad metaphor, good instinct. But they got a decent head start – you sure you can catch'em?"

"If put my foot to the metal, I can." Cas nodded at the brothers as he reached the top of the stairs. "Get better, Sam."

With that, Cas was gone.

Sam smiled tiredly. "You think he'll ever figure out English?"

"Not in our lifetime."

Suddenly, like so often in their lives, it was just the two of them.

For a few moments neither brother said anything.

"What the hell did they do to you, Sammy?" The quiet fury in Dean's voice was barely controlled as he stared up at the ceiling and the jury-rigged shower.

"Doesn't matter. Pain is ... just pain – that I could handle." Sam glanced around the cellar. "But at one point she left me here and it hit me - you were gone and I was..."

Alone. It was another word his throat seemed to close around. His gaze travelled again to the cellar stairs. "And then suddenly you were there … and as much as I wanted you back, a part of me didn't want to believe you were real."

Again, he screwed his eyes closed, this time trying to shut out the echo of Toni's voice.

 _"I'm as happy to see him as you are." Toni had given_ _his brother_ _a shove, forcing him to stumble down the stairs. "Because while you may be able to withstand me snapping apart your body joint by joint, can you watch it happen to Dean?"_

He couldn't, and she knew it.

"You know I walked into her trap on purpose, right?" Dean grinned. "Best way to find you – have her deliver me right to you."

Sam raised an eyebrow. "And you showing up in shackles - that was all part of the plan?"

His bluff called, Dean's grin faded and he shrugged. "She had this trap thing … a spell, I guess. Anyway, whatever the hell it was, when we get back to the bunker, we're going through the books to figure it out and add it to our arsenal. Once we get Mom settled in, that is."

Mom. Sam's breath hitched. "Mom ... where … how-"

"Like I said, Sammy, I got no clue." Dean's gaze stayed at the top of the stairs. "She came back, then you were gone so I didn't exactly have much time to process. Now…." His voice trailed off. "Now I'm just trying to figure out how to be her kid."

Sam's voice was quiet. "You are her kid."

"I know... I know but..." Dean was staring at the doorway Mary had disappeared through, like she might not be there when they followed her out of the cellar. "I mean, with you, I'm a brother. With Dad, I was a soldier and at work, I'm a hunter – I know what to do, I know who I am. But with her … with Mom ... I don't know how to be-"

"A son?" Sam dropped his head back, resting on his brother's shoulder, sensing it was now Dean who needed the comfort. "I'm with you on that one. But it can't be easy for her either. I mean, we're not exactly the little kids she left behind." He nodded slowly, convincing himself as much as Dean. "But we'll … we'll figure it out. Together. That's what families do, right?"

Dean said nothing for a moment, then loosened his hold on Sam and pushed himself up. "Come on, let's get you on your feet."

Dean held out his hand and Sam grabbed it, unsteadily climbing to his feet. Once upright, he quickly found his balance.

"You good?" Dean still had hold of Sam by the biceps.

"Yeah, but..."

"But what?" Dean let go but didn't move away.

Sam grabbed Dean and enveloped him in a bear hug.

"Yeah, yeah, I saved your ass again." Dean returned the hug. "But you'd do the same for me, right?"

"Not funny." Sam didn't let go.

"I'm real, Sammy, and I'm right here."

"Yeah." Sam slowly released Dean and stepped back. "And so's Mom."

"And don't think that isn't doing my head in." Dean forced a smile. "Know what, we're overthinking this. Every day we deal with crap … with things that only exist in other people's nightmares and we never question it. Any of it. And then when something good happens..." He shook his head. "This is a good thing, Sammy. A good thing."

Sam nodded slowly. Dean was right – their Mom was back. How could it not be a good thing? "You're right. Let's go find her."

Dean's gaze stayed locked on his brother as Sam moved slowly across the cellar. He gestured to the stairs. "Can you manage those solo?"

When his brother nodded, Dean gestured for Sam to go first.

With an iron grip on the handrails, Sam exhaled then began slowly climbing the stairs. On the fourth step he winced when his bare foot caught on a proud nail.

"Sam?"

Sam waved off Dean's concern. "I'm fine ... it's nothing."

Dean snorted. "Well, it would be nothing if you had your damn shoes on. What is it with you and losing shoes anyway?"

Unseen by his brother, Sam smiled.

 **xxx The End xxx**

 **AN:** I hope you enjoyed this. As much as I may quibble with some of the choices our show makes here and there, I'm still enjoying it each week after 12 years. That's really something, huh? If you have a moment, I'd love to hear from you. Until next time, cheers.


End file.
